We've recently downsized from our home on the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida to a more reasonable home about 15 minutes inland in a bayou region; we're one house away from conservation land surrounding the bayou system. We've traded one ecosystem for another.

Just prior to moving, I was feeling very nostalgic about leaving our nearly private lagoon where we saw many types of herons (some sources include egrets as a type of heron) on a daily basis as well as osprey, bottlenose dolphins, and different varieties of rays. One of my favorites was Egor (Igor), The Great Egret, who sat on our deck railing frequently.

I feel truly blessed to have lived in such a setting for nine years, but look forward to adventures in our new bayou ecosystem as well. I'm sure we will be making new "wild" friends and have already seen a saw whet owl and an opossum. We also hear the plaintive cry of Chuck-Will's-Widow nightly.

This poem is a sort of haiku without a strict syllable count.

Great Egret tamest of the herons waits on our railing--eager for a sardine treat

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﻿In other news, Michelle Barnes has featured a limerick of mine on Limerick Alley, about a teacup poodle, inspired by our own Chou-Chou, may she rest in peace. Michelle has done a wonderful job with the post. Check it out and Thank You, Michelle!﻿

Author

B. J. Lee is a children’s author and poet. Her picture book, There Was an Old Gator Who Swallowed a Moth, is launching with Pelican Publishing on February 15, 2019. She has poems in 25 poetry anthologies published by Little, Brown, Wordsong, BloomsburyUK, National Geographic, Otter-Barry Books, Pomelo Books, and Chicken Soup for the Soul. She has worked with anthologists Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis and Kenn Nesbitt. She has written poems for such children’s magazines as Spider, Highlights and The School Magazine. Follow her on Twitter @bjlee_writer.